When In Rome
by doctor-who-addiction
Summary: When Ben was studying in the 21st century, he never planned on turning up in first century Rome! Luckily he finds a man that might be able to help him out... Rated K for threat in the next few chapters.


**This is the first fanfiction that I have written. I hope you enjoy it! It's situated between ****_The Next Doctor _****and ****_Planet of the Dead._**

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**Chapter 1**

A young, short, teenage boy trudged down the muddy, rain-soaked pathway lined with trees' that had already lost the majority of their leaves. He was wearing battered, worn-down trainers with equally worn-down jogging bottoms that barely reached his ankles and a plain, scruffy hoodie that looked like it used to have words written on the front - but was now so tattered that they were barely readable - was pulled over his head, shielding his face and hair from the brunt of the storm. Despite the pouring rain, he didn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry. He passed an abandoned playground. If it weren't for the rain, children probably would be clambering all over it, but not today. He kicked a few pebbles and stepped in a particularly deep puddle, not caring as the murky rainwater seeped into his shabby trainers.

He continued walking until he reached a timeworn building made of grey bricks. He climbed up a few overused steps leading up to it and opened the hard-oak door. As he stepped inside, warmth from the heaters gave him a welcoming blast. He shook his feet trying to get rid of some of the water that had wound up in his shoes. As he looked around his surroundings there were rows upon rows of walnut coloured bookshelves all with different signs such as "mystery" or "horror". The smell of old books lingered in the air, posters advertising new books plastered the orange walls and a red carpet covered the floor, overall giving the room an atmosphere of homeliness.

"Hello, Ben!" A cheery old woman behind a desk, called merrily over to the boy after raising her head out of a particularly large book and removing her reading glasses, perching them atop her greying hair. She was wearing a red dress with pink flamingos on it and a cardigan to match. Ben approached the desk.

"Hi, Mrs Appleby." Ben replied. He took his hood down revealing his dark brown, damp, floppy hair; almost covering his nut brown eyes. A few tiny freckles were splashed across his nose and a small, red spot was visible on his pale cheek.

"How has your father been recently?" The librarian inquired fondly.

Ben grimaced. "Busy as usual." Ben's father was a bit of a laughing stock in the small village that they lived in. He was always trying to find a cure for Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease, the disease which killed Ben's mother when he was young. Ben's father stayed locked in his room, conducting experiments and reading medical books, desperately trying in vain to find the cure so that no-one else would have to go through what he suffered; although it was for a noble cause, he hadn't gotten anywhere near to finding the cure, and since that was what he did full-time, he and Ben had to live off Government benefits and most of that money went to funding his research, meaning that he and Ben lived off the bare minimum. On rare occasions, Ben had to steal food from the marketplace as the money that would have been spent on food was used for other purposes.

Knowing not to delve further, Mrs Appleby hurriedly changed the subject, "What type of book will it be this time then?"

"I've got to do a history project for school and wanted to do about the ancient Romans." This was simply a formality; he had gone to this library since he was old enough to be alone, which was when he was seven. It had been eight years since then. He knew the layout of this building like the back of his hand; however, he still patiently waited for her to point in the direction of the history section before he moved off. He quietly murmured a "Thanks," quietly as she soon stuck her head back into the book she was reading.

Ben walked over to the far corner of the library in the direction that the librarian pointed, along the row labelled as "History". The shelves reached just over his head. He stopped and turned to face the second-to-last shelf along the row. He scanned the titles of the books, trying to find one that would help him in his project the most. One book stood out from all the rest. It was thick and battered and the writing on the side was barely legible. Curiosity took over and he picked up the book. On the cover there was a faded picture of the coliseum and the title simply read _Ancient Rome. _It looked sufficient enough for research so he slowly opened the book. There was a sudden minute of shock as it looked like there were no apparent words on the pages but then, a bright blue pulsating light emanated from the blank pages, engulfing Ben. He tried to cry out but he couldn't move his mouth, or any of his body for that matter. A strange smell filled his nostrils and a tangy, metallic taste settled in his mouth. He heard people talking in an unknown language, gradually getting louder as the light got brighter. Then suddenly, he wasn't standing in the library anymore…

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In the back of an alleyway, the noise of gears could barely be heard over the hustle and bustle of a nearby marketplace. A blue police box kept materialising then dematerialising, until it finally came to a halt. A thin man, who looked to be in his late-thirties and had stick-up hair, leapt out of the box. He was wearing a brown pinstriped suit and a long brown trench coat.

"Ah, Ancient Rome!" He exclaimed, "AD 85! Domitian is Emperor and-" He glanced around. Seeming to notice that no-one was there, he looked down with a forlorn expression. "Well it's better that way." He mumbled, as though trying to convince himself that what he said was right.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and just as he was about to wander off, a bright blue light caught his attention. _Well that shouldn't be here. _He thought immediately before he ran in the direction that it was emerging from.

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**Thanks for reading. If you found any mistakes then please tell me!**


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